editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Ofeibea Quist-Arcton is a journalist and broadcaster from Ghana who reports for NPR News on issues and developments related to West Africa. She spent her early years in Ghana, Italy, Britain and Kenya.Quist-Arcton has lived and worked in the U.K., France, Ivory Coast, U.S., South Africa and most recently Senegal, traveling all over Africa as a journalist, broadcaster, commentator and host.After completing high school in Britain, she took a degree in French studies with international relations and Spanish at the London School of Economics (LSE) and went on to study radio journalism at the Polytechnic of Central London, with two internships at the BBC.Quist-Arcton joined the BBC in 1985, working at a number of regional radio stations all over Britain, moving two years later to the renowned BBC World Service at Bush House in London, as a producer and host in the African Service. She traveled and reported throughout Africa.She spent the year leading up to 1990 in Paris, on a BBC journalistNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Ofeibea Quist-ArctonSat, 22 Oct 2016 23:12:32 +0000Ofeibea Quist-Arctonhttp://wrkf.org
Ofeibea Quist-ArctonIt's the land of pop-up protests.Using hashtags and spur-of-the-moment public demonstrations, Zimbabweans are demanding reforms — and the departure of 92-year-old president Robert Mugabe, who has led the country since its independence from Britain in 1980.The trend started in April with Pastor Evan Mawarire, who wrapped himself in Zimbabwe's green, yellow, red, black and white flag — with an African fish eagle at the center – and posted a plaintive Facebook/YouTube video recording.The 39-year-old Baptist preacher said he couldn't afford to pay his daughter's school fees and was fed up with the government's failures, broken promises and the crippled economy. He captured the national mood of discontent with a slogan — #ThisFlag.The government responded by making it illegal and punishable to use the flag without permission. The justice ministry issued a statement in September: "Members of the public who participate in any action or activity involving the national flag or bringing theCan Hashtags And Pop-Up Protests Topple A Leader?http://wrkf.org/post/can-hashtags-and-pop-protests-topple-leader
61147 as http://wrkf.orgFri, 21 Oct 2016 09:09:00 +0000Can Hashtags And Pop-Up Protests Topple A Leader?Ofeibea Quist-ArctonFortunate Nyakupinda has parked her hatchback by the side of the busy main road leading to the industrial area in Harare — where she sells used clothing for men from the trunk and the back seat.In June last year, Fortunate Nyakupinda was smiling and friendly, laughing out loud — and said she was doing steady business. This time round, she's still smiling and friendly. But the 31-year-old is now expecting her third child, having some health issues and says grappling with Zimbabwe's collapsing economy is taking its toll.Business selling second hand men's jeans, pants, shorts and shirts, jackets and belts isn't so good this year."Hey, here things are difficult in Zimbabwe. We have got a big challenge. There is no money. Yes. There is no money. Yes. Things are not well," Nyakupinda says.She says that a year ago she was able to earn $100 a day selling the clothes. Now, she's earning about $30 a day."My business is very low these days," she says.And she and her husband will soon have anA Woman Named Fortunate Doesn't See Good Fortune Ahead In Zimbabwehttp://wrkf.org/post/woman-named-fortunate-doesnt-see-good-fortune-ahead-zimbabwe
61138 as http://wrkf.orgThu, 20 Oct 2016 22:07:00 +0000A Woman Named Fortunate Doesn't See Good Fortune Ahead In ZimbabweOfeibea Quist-ArctonCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit MONTAGNE, HOST: I'm Renee Montagne with some rare good news out of northeast Nigeria. A Nigerian presidential spokesman says 21 of more than 200 school girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents two years ago have been released. That came after negotiations brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government. The information has yet to be independently verified, but we reached NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton who is monitoring developments, and she's on the line with us. Good morning. OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON, BYLINE: Greetings. MONTAGNE: What in fact do you know? QUIST-ARCTON: Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu says, as you've said, Renee, 21 of the 218 missing Chibok schoolgirls has been released after these negotiations with Boko Haram. And, you know, it would be rare for the government to come out with this information if it wasn't absolutely sure. So we have yet to have it confirmed independently, but this is an incredible coup for theNigeria Announces The Release Of Some Kidnapped Girlshttp://wrkf.org/post/nigeria-announces-release-some-kidnapped-girls
60880 as http://wrkf.orgThu, 13 Oct 2016 14:34:00 +0000Nigeria Announces The Release Of Some Kidnapped GirlsOfeibea Quist-ArctonCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Ethiopia Declares State Of Emergency Amid Continuing Protestshttp://wrkf.org/post/ethiopia-declares-state-emergency-amid-continuing-protests
60767 as http://wrkf.orgSun, 09 Oct 2016 21:04:00 +0000Ethiopia Declares State Of Emergency Amid Continuing ProtestsOfeibea Quist-ArctonShe wants to take pictures of happiness.That's one of the goals that Fati Abubakar set when she started her Instagram feed bitsofborno last year.Borno is a state in the troubled northeast of Nigeria, where the extremist group Boko Haram began operating. The capital city, Maiduguri, birthplace of the insurgency, is where this 30-year-old nurse lives and works as a project manager for a malnutrition project as well as a documentary photographer.Abubakar had been feeling frustrated that her home region is best known for its ties to Boko Haram. So in 2015, she decided to do something about it. She started taking pictures of the daily life that she says local and international media neglect as they focus on bomb blasts, suicide attacks, death and destruction — and the fallout from Boko Haram's violence.She photographs and profiles random regular folk of all ages, from all walks of life, then pulls out her notebook to record their views, posting pictures and text online.With her camera slungWho's The Woman With The Camera Chasing Smiles And Styles In Nigeria?http://wrkf.org/post/whos-woman-camera-chasing-smiles-and-styles-nigeria
60534 as http://wrkf.orgSun, 02 Oct 2016 21:07:00 +0000Who's The Woman With The Camera Chasing Smiles And Styles In Nigeria?Ofeibea Quist-ArctonCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Gabon Rocked By Deadly Protests After Opposition Alleges Election Fraudhttp://wrkf.org/post/gabon-rocked-deadly-protests-after-opposition-alleges-election-fraud
59567 as http://wrkf.orgFri, 02 Sep 2016 09:07:00 +0000Gabon Rocked By Deadly Protests After Opposition Alleges Election FraudOfeibea Quist-ArctonA holiday celebrating a dish beloved of many West Africans, World Jollof Day, was marked last week.Jollof is a celebration dish. You eat it at parties, naming ceremonies, weddings, funerals — you name it, you will see the familiar and comforting pot of steaming jollof rice.But jollof is also war – of the deliciously friendly variety.I come from Ghana, am based in Senegal and travel on reporting assignments all over West Africa. Almost every one of us from the region has grown up with fluffy, red-orange jollof rice, I suspect, as part of our diet. It is a universal favorite — the signature regional dish, with zillions of variations regarding its preparation, depending on your country of origin. And the rivalry is intense about whose country's jollof rice is best and why. It's a never-ending dispute – and mainly good-natured, though heartfelt.As my dear friend Ronke Onadeko, who's Nigerian, recently put it, "This jollof matter is sensitive and personal."So, let's start with the basics.Jollof Rice: West Africans Dish It Up With A Hefty Serving Of Smack Talkhttp://wrkf.org/post/jollof-rice-west-africans-dish-it-hefty-serving-smack-talk
59468 as http://wrkf.orgTue, 30 Aug 2016 18:57:00 +0000Jollof Rice: West Africans Dish It Up With A Hefty Serving Of Smack TalkOfeibea Quist-ArctonWide-eyed Sakina Muhammad, who's 2, sits on her mother, Habiba's lap, on a bed in the ICU. Sakina is stick thin, her body withered and emaciated.But she's one of the lucky ones — a malnourished child who came to the health facility in time to be saved. Many starving children don't make it.Malnutrition is at a catastrophic level in northeastern Nigeria, where Sakina lives, says Doctors Without Borders. According to the medical aid group, the number of malnourished people could be as high as half a million. Children are starving — and dying.Thousands of these displaced people live in precarious conditions at an informal settlement called Muna outside Maiduguri, the capital of troubled Borno State and birthplace of Boko Haram. They were driven from their homes after attacks by the Islamist militant group. And right now it's the rainy season, which means lean farming. So there's no harvest.Muna is a sea of flimsy, makeshift shelters, covered in plastic sheeting. It stretches out for acres,They're Caught In A Crisis That Isn't Hitting The Headlineshttp://wrkf.org/post/theyre-caught-crisis-isnt-hitting-headlines
59437 as http://wrkf.orgMon, 29 Aug 2016 21:56:00 +0000They're Caught In A Crisis That Isn't Hitting The HeadlinesOfeibea Quist-ArctonThe United Nations suspended food and relief aid to dangerous and hard-to-access areas in northeastern Nigeria, amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis affecting half a million people. The move comes after Boko Haram ambushed a humanitarian convoy. Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.After Boko Haram Ambush, U.N. Suspends Aid Missions To Northeastern Nigeriahttp://wrkf.org/post/after-boko-haram-ambush-un-suspends-aid-missions-northeastern-nigeria
58323 as http://wrkf.orgFri, 29 Jul 2016 20:10:00 +0000After Boko Haram Ambush, U.N. Suspends Aid Missions To Northeastern NigeriaOfeibea Quist-ArctonIt's World Refugee Day today, and the head of the UN's refugee agency, FiIippo Grandi, has released some startling statistics – starting with the fact that there are 65 million refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons. That's a record number.And behind every number, there is a story.Falmata Baba Gana is one of the 65 million. She's a 30-year-old mother who fled her village in northeastern Nigeria almost a year ago after an attack by Boko Haram. She and her 7 children crossed the border into Niger and arrived at the Assaga camp, now home to some 6,000 refugees and people uprooted from their homes within Niger. Located in the Diffa region in southeast Niger, it's a makeshift refuge, buffeted by Sahara desert sands and winds, and running alongside Niger's main east-west expressway.Baba Gana says she's still traumatized by the bloodshed she witnessed at home — and so is her young family."During the last holy fasting month of Ramadan, Boko Haram came to our village. Pa, pa, pa, pa,"One Mother's Perspective On What It's Like To Be A Refugeehttp://wrkf.org/post/one-mothers-perspective-what-its-be-refugee
56806 as http://wrkf.orgMon, 20 Jun 2016 21:14:00 +0000One Mother's Perspective On What It's Like To Be A RefugeeOfeibea Quist-ArctonIt's a familiar story. A young man leaves his family in search of a golden land, a place where he can earn more money to send back home.In the past, the story has led to happy endings as well as tragedies. That is also the case in the 21st century. Last week, there were reports of 700 migrants who likely perished in three shipwrecks in the Mediterranean while crossing from Libya to Italy.One African country that is hemorrhaging young men is Senegal. They're leaving the West African nation in the hope of a better life in Europe. The Senegalese authorities want to stop them from risking their lives on rickety boats in the Mediterranean Sea or while crossing the Sahara desert, as they seek their fortunes abroad. These youths face pressure to go — and pressure to stay home.Souleymane Sebor dons sunglasses as protection from flying sparks and squats to work on a long metal pipe. He's a welder and father of five children with his two wives. Sebor is one of many Senegalese men who tried toIn Senegal, They're Dreaming Of Europehttp://wrkf.org/post/dreaming-europe-come-hell-or-high-water
56121 as http://wrkf.orgWed, 01 Jun 2016 20:35:00 +0000In Senegal, They're Dreaming Of EuropeOfeibea Quist-ArctonNigerian tomatoes are tasty and juicy. But a large basket of toms is now costing an arm and a leg. From about $10.40 three months ago, that price has rocketed 400 percent to a staggering $40, according to local media.Tomato farms in the northwest and central regions have been ravaged, prompting the governor of Kaduna state in the north, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to have reportedly declared a tomato state of emergency in the sector. El-Rufai is quoted as saying 80 percent of Kaduna's tomato production — and the state is deemed by the U.N. to be the tomato capital of Nigeria — has been hit by the disease.That's because a pesky pest — a moth — has got to Nigeria's tomato crop. The insect goes by the name Tuta Absoluta, aka Tomato Leaf Miner, says Daniel Manzo Maigari, Kaduna state's commissioner for agriculture.The moth attacks the leaves of the tomato plant, and larvae produced by the moth feed voraciously on the plants and cause a 100 percent loss in yield. No amount of spraying is said toA Moth Nicknamed 'Tomato Ebola' Ravages Nigeria's Tomatoeshttp://wrkf.org/post/moth-nicknamed-tomato-ebola-ravages-nigerias-tomatoes
55921 as http://wrkf.orgThu, 26 May 2016 16:52:00 +0000A Moth Nicknamed 'Tomato Ebola' Ravages Nigeria's TomatoesOfeibea Quist-ArctonCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.One Of 219 Missing Nigerian Schoolgirls Reportedly Found Alivehttp://wrkf.org/post/one-219-missing-nigerian-schoolgirls-reportedly-found-alive
55657 as http://wrkf.orgWed, 18 May 2016 22:41:00 +0000One Of 219 Missing Nigerian Schoolgirls Reportedly Found AliveOfeibea Quist-ArctonBourang Ba was a young farmer in Sitacourou — a sleepy village of scattered thatched roof dwellings where cattle chomp on hay in courtyards. Last year, the father of two set out for Europe, leaving behind his son, daughter and young wife, Nialina. Like his two half-brothers who had already migrated to Spain, he hoped to send money home for the family.Bourang Ba never made it to Europe. He drowned in the Mediterranean en route."He wanted to do his bit and provide for his relatives, so he left without telling me," sobs Wassa Ba, Bourang Ba's father.The young man, in his 20s, is one of many victims. A little more than two weeks ago, a group of hundreds of migrants from Africa drowned trying to cross to Europe.They were primarily from East Africa, but the migrants are the latest in a wave of people leaving the continent to seek a better life. Many in the exodus are youth from Senegal — particularly the eastern part of that nation.It's at busy bus stations like one in Tambacounda, the mainWhy The Villages Are Losing Their Young Menhttp://wrkf.org/post/why-villages-are-losing-their-young-men
55198 as http://wrkf.orgThu, 05 May 2016 20:43:00 +0000Why The Villages Are Losing Their Young MenOfeibea Quist-ArctonOne evening in November 2014, Aissatou Sanogo's husband came to tell her some startling news."Aissatou," he said, "I'm leaving for Europe" — that very night. He earned a modest salary as a bakery deliveryman in Senegal but had dreams of making far more for his family in a European country."I told my husband I didn't want him to leave Senegal and that the little money he brought home was enough for us to live on," says Sanogo. "But he got angry with me saying I wanted him to stay close to me. I was crying, but I let him go." He said reaching Europe was the only way he could properly provide for his family and earn enough to look after his sick father.That was the last time Sanogo saw her husband.It has been a year since he drowned crossing the Mediterranean. He's one of probably hundreds of African migrants who've drowned on the journey from Africa to Europe. And the numbers keep mounting. In just the past week, there were reports of dozens more drownings. That means more African womenShe Told Her Husband She Didn't Want Him To Leave For Europehttp://wrkf.org/post/she-told-her-husband-she-didnt-want-him-leave-europe
54866 as http://wrkf.orgWed, 27 Apr 2016 09:14:00 +0000She Told Her Husband She Didn't Want Him To Leave For EuropeOfeibea Quist-ArctonTributes continue to flood in for celebrated Malian portrait photographer Malick Sidibe, who died of complications from diabetes in Bamako on April 14, at 80.Mali's culture minister, N'Diaye Ramatoulaye Diallo, says Sidibe was a national treasure and an important part of their cultural heritage, whose loss the entire country is mourning.Nicknamed "L'Oeil de Bamako" — the "Eye of Bamako," his capital city — the slim man with the big smile, kind heart and twinkling eyes had a gift for detail encapsulating the exuberance of his country and compatriots, reflected in a lifetime of lyrical, feel-good photographs.Sidibe's distinctive and timeless black and white images, from the 1960s and '70s — the photos he's best known for — remain fresh and exciting more than half a century later. Often with a touch of humor, his pioneering portraits captured the spirit of newly independent Mali, relishing its freedom and having fun.Admirers praise Sidibe for showing a different face of Africa, recordingPhotos: Why Everyone In Mali Wanted To Pose For The Late, Great Sidibehttp://wrkf.org/post/photos-why-everyone-mali-wanted-pose-late-great-sidibe
54562 as http://wrkf.orgMon, 18 Apr 2016 21:47:00 +0000Photos: Why Everyone In Mali Wanted To Pose For The Late, Great SidibeOfeibea Quist-Arcton"Ca nous fait swinguer" — love that swing, says an aficionado at the Dakar Goree Jazz Festival as the tempo shifts from Senegalese jazz to salsa and blues. Aissatou Niang says she's enchanted and delighted with the performances.Other festivalgoers concur, smiling. They're attending the second edition of a burgeoning jazzfest in Dakar last month that brought together musicians from Senegal, the U.S. and beyond.The festival is the brainchild of Amadou Koly Niang, a Senegalese man who fell in love with jazz in his teens."When I was 14, I started to listen to Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Kenny Clark — all those musicians — and I was very into it," says Niang.As a young man, he coordinated a weekly jazz conference at the American Cultural Center and French Cultural Center in Senegal's capital Dakar."Every Monday we had a lecture on jazz," he says. "And when I went to the United States I just found the people that I knew before I went there."Niang left home to study in California in 1974.It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Senegalese Swinghttp://wrkf.org/post/it-dont-mean-thing-if-it-aint-got-senegalese-swing
53682 as http://wrkf.orgSun, 27 Mar 2016 12:13:00 +0000It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Senegalese SwingOfeibea Quist-Arctonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9OcCdB5_NM "We're not afraid of the terrorists," says Salimata Sylla.The 40-year-old government worker, wearing purple shorts and a big smile, is visiting the historic Atlantic Ocean town of Grand Bassam, a UN World Heritage site. The seaside resort in Ivory Coast was, on March 13, the target of al-Qaida gunmen who attacked the Etoile du Sud and other hotels and the beachfront with bullets and grenades. They killed at least 19 Ivorians and foreigners.A week later, Sylla went to the beach with her two boys, Hassane Coulibaly, almost 7, his younger brother, Kader, who's 2, and their 14-year-old sister, Myriam, along with other family members. She wanted to make a point: "We're not afraid of those terrorists and won't stay locked up at home," she says. "Jamais, never, never, never afraid. Non. No, no, never afraid."Sylla says her work colleagues were horrified that she was going to the beach."They thought I was crazy and tried to dissuade me," says Sylla. A Day At The Beach Is A Way Of Saying 'We're Not Afraid' Of Terroristshttp://wrkf.org/post/day-beach-way-saying-were-not-afraid-terrorists
53596 as http://wrkf.orgThu, 24 Mar 2016 21:31:00 +0000A Day At The Beach Is A Way Of Saying 'We're Not Afraid' Of TerroristsOfeibea Quist-ArctonCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Al-Qaida Militants Target Westerners In West Africahttp://wrkf.org/post/al-qaida-militants-target-westerners-west-africa
51185 as http://wrkf.orgSun, 24 Jan 2016 12:47:00 +0000Al-Qaida Militants Target Westerners In West AfricaOfeibea Quist-ArctonWhen the military took power in Ghana, imposing a curfew from the early 1980s, theaters in the West African country went dark. By the time elected-civilian government was restored in 1992, many Ghanaians had lost the habit of going out to watch a play.Now one man is luring his compatriots back to live shows — and away from TV and videos. His name is James Ebo Whyte — "but everyone in Ghana calls me 'Uncle' Ebo Whyte, because of the program I do on radio," he says.You can't miss the nattily dressed playwright. At 70 years old, he's small, dynamic and fit with a big smile. The one-time businessman regularly leaps on stage to talk to the audience for whatever reason — whether to explain a cut to the power supply or to encourage the enthusiastic theatergoers to pick up his magazine and buy tickets for his next play."I've been writing, directing and producing a play every quarter for the last seven years, and this is my 28th play in seven years," Whyte says.Once Ghana had a thriving andYears After Its Curfew Killed Theater, Ghana Gets A Second Acthttp://wrkf.org/post/years-after-its-curfew-killed-theater-ghana-gets-second-act
50688 as http://wrkf.orgSun, 10 Jan 2016 21:30:00 +0000Years After Its Curfew Killed Theater, Ghana Gets A Second Act